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Home : FAQs : Why does my car's manufacturer recommend a charge station that's more amps?

Question 15/15 in General Questions: FAQs

FAQs

Question:

Why does my car's manufacturer recommend a charge station that's more amps?

Answer:

For instance, Nissan recommends it's customers contract with a company called Aerovironment (AV), a defense contractor, to buy their expensive 30 amp capable wall-mounted charge dock. Because of electrical code rules (NEC), this will require a dedicated 40 amp hardwired circuit be installed in your home with needed city permits and inspection. The 2011/2012 Leaf will only be able to use up to 16 amps which can safely charge at it's full-speed rate on only a 20 amp non-dedicated outlet, which you may already have (such as for a dryer). Thus, the Nissan-recommended 30 amp charge dock installation is unnecessary, and could make the installation way more complicated and very expensive. (in some cases almost $20,000!)

Our upgrade is specifically designed to charge your EV at a high-speed Level 2 rate when used on a 240 volt outlet. The Electrical code only requires a 20 amp outlet, placing much less of a burden on the requirements, and reducing the cost significantly. In many cases, homes already have an available 20 amp capable 240 volt outlet, which then means no city permits or expensive electrical work needed! For the 2013 Leaf with the optional charging package (6kW), with our upgrade, you benefit from high-speed charging, typically 3-5 hours. Having the expensive wall-mount unit only shaves mere minutes off your charge time in most cases, but shaves a lot more off your wallet!